Mick Knight… John Pearson continues in the tradition of the early country blues players who are his inspiration. He has worked with many of the leading British and American exponents of this music including Alexis Korner, Davey Graham, Jo Ann Kelly, Bert Jansch, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Louisiana Red, Rory Gallagher, Big Moose Walker, Woody Mann, Wizz Jones, Cephas and Wiggins, and Roy Rogers and his Delta Rhythm Kings. John Pearson is not a stranger to Hastings music scene having performed here over many years. He will be joined by his harmonica partner for many of those gigs Jem Turpin. Don’t miss this totally acoustic evening, come on down to the Jenny and join us.
Sara Lee Trust… Tickets are now on sale for Hastings Beatles Day 2024 taking place at the White Rock Theatre on Sunday 7th April and raising funds for The Sara Lee Trust. We cannot wait for you to join us as we celebrate 25 years of this iconic event. Get your tickets now at https://whiterocktheatre.org.uk
Mick Knights… These were good times to be a teenager, listen to great music in the early evening and later going as guests of the landlord of the Horse and Groom to the Grenadier Club For more adult entertainment!!
Mick O’Dowd… Please note the Deep Purple here was the Hastings branch with Tony Bird, Mac, Len Benton, Pete Horton ! The other Purple were still Episode Six on April 13th.
Pete Brazier… My Brother Paul was a Bouncer at The Cobweb (amongst other venues including the Pier at the time!)
I SEE YOU LIVE ON LOVE STREET – MUSIC FROM LAUREL CANYON 1967-1975 Various Artistes
I’m delighted to bring you this companion piece from Grapefruit Records to their well received 2022 ‘Heroes & Villains : The Sound of Los Angeles 1965 – 1968 compilation, previously reviewed in these pages. This new compilation boasts 3 CD’s spanning 72 tracks & running to over 4 hours & as ever with Grapefruit its beautifully presented in a sturdy clamshell box with each of the 3 CD’s enclosed in its own cardboard sleeve & sporting individual artwork. The accompanying 48 page booklet by label boss David Wells, is as ever, a fascinating treasure trove of information, annotating the tracks together with contemporary photo’s & I particularly liked the closing double page spread of Posters advertising gigs of the times. With the likes of The Doors, Jefferson Airplane & The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band plus others on the same bill. Wonderful. For those not familiar with the whole Laurel Canyon scene, a brief history. Whereas London & Liverpool here in the UK & New York over the pond had been the epicentres of the music world from the late 50’s onwards, By the ‘summer of love; & the whole hippie psychedelic scene of 1967 centred around San Francisco the music scene in the USA was now concentrated on the warm sunny skies of the West Coast & Los Angeles had become the place to be. A short distance from the famous Sunset Strip up in the hills lay peaceful Laurel Canyon. You may have seen the excellent Sky documentary a couple of years back on the whole scene that sprung up there. It became an incestuous hotbed of cross fertilisation between a host of unlikely bedfellows as the press release points out so aptly. You had The Monkees hanging out with Zappa, The Turtles with Judee Sill, The Doors, Steppenwolf & Warren Zevon collaborated with shady figure (i memorably met him once) Kim Fowley, a record producer amongst other things. Country rock burgeoned with the nearby Troubadour venue hosting the likes of The Byrds, Poco, CS&N, Buffalo Springfield etc. So to the compilation. Disc1 sub headed ‘Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon 1967-68’ gets us under way with the breezy vocals of The Association with ‘Come On In’ immediately transporting us to sunny Californian skies. Love appear with ‘The Good Humour Man, He Sees Everything’ from what i consider the best album ever recorded ‘Forever Changes’. A band I’m not familiar with deliver a cracking slice of psyche with ‘Wildflowers’, I’ll be investigating the band further. Scott McKenzie of ‘San Francisco’ fame brings one of the best tracks on the whole compilation with ‘Twelve Thirty’ One of the best Beatles covers I;ve ever heard comes from The Sunshine Company & ‘I Need You’. Elsewhere you will find The Monkees, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Stone Poneys, Captain Beefheart, Mamas & Papas, Buffalo Springfield & a host of others. Disc 2 sub headed ‘Going Home To California 1969-72’ starts with a song I love, but I regularly forget about it until like now it pops up, i refer to Stephen Stills & ‘Love The One You’re With’ followed by the brilliant Poco with ‘Pickin’ Up The Pieces’ The dreamy tones of Tim Buckley entrance with’ Buzzin Fly’ & Glen Campbell weighs in with my all time favourite Jim Webb song ‘Where’s The Playground Susie’ & thank you compiler for not chopping the end, as is so often the case! Other tracks to be delighted with come from the likes of Three Dog Night, Rick Nelson, Canned Heat, Steppenwolf, Frank Zappa & a great number from Dave Mason with Cass Elliot on ‘Too Much Truth-Too Much Love’. Disc 3 sub headed ‘Postcards From Hollywood 1971-75’ takes us into more generally upbeat fare opening with J D Souther with ‘Some People Call It Music’ swiftly followed by the underrated excellent Little Feat & ‘Easy To Slip’, Linda Ronstadt & Judee Sill provide soft entries with ‘Birds’ & ‘Crayon Angels’ respectively. Elsewhere there are great contributions from Nilsson, Crazy Horse, Gram Parsons, Leon Russell & a whole host of others. Sadly I don’t have the space to go track by track, however i hope I have given you at least a sample taste of all the sublime music to be had on this new compilation. Over to you. Enjoy.
Paul Gray… Excellent review! I have this on order. Can’t go wrong with Grapefruit Box Sets and yes, Forever Changes is the greatest album of all time!
Colin Bell… Hi Paul, thanks for your kind comment. Pleased to meet someone else who also believes ‘Forever Changes’ is the greatest album of all time! Hands down, no arguments!
Leigh Mitchell… The documentary was excellent, this sounds like a brilliant purchase for ‘him in doors’! I saw Warren Zevron when I was living in Washington DC (1982 I think) in a very small venue, he was so good. I have an LP of his somewhere…..! xx
